Easy Air Fryer Meatballs Recipe

You’ll Need These Ingredients

Scroll down to the recipe card for the full, printable ingredients list, amounts, and step-by-step instructions.

• Ground Beef and Pork – I like to use a combination of lean ground beef and ground pork in my meatballs, for flavor and juiciness. You can also make turkey or chicken meatballs in the air fryer as a leaner protein option.
• Milk – Similar to how milk can tenderize the ground beef in Bolognese recipes, a splash of whole milk (or 2%) makes the meatball mixture moist and tender.
• Egg – A lightly beaten egg helps bind the meatball ingredients.
• Parmesan Cheese – While I recommend freshly grated Parmesan, pre-grated will work here, too. Pecorino Romano and Grana Padano cheese are good alternatives.
• Breadcrumbs – Along with the egg, breadcrumbs act as a binder for the meatball ingredients. If you don’t have breadcrumbs, you can make them! Cut bread into cubes to dry out in the toaster or oven. Then, blitz the bread in the blender or food processor to make fine crumbs.
• Herbs and Seasonings – I use freshly minced garlic, Italian seasoning, onion powder, salt, and pepper. You can substitute Italian seasoning with individual dried herbs like thyme, basil, and oregano.

How to Make Air Fryer Meatballs

Here’s how to make the best air fryer meatballs, step by step, in under 20 minutes. What I love most about this recipe is how quickly the mixture comes together, and chilling the meatballs is optional, which is a major time saver on weeknights.

Mixing the Meatball Mixture

The most important piece of advice I have here is, don’t overmix! Overmixing yields dense, tough meatballs. I like to combine the ground meat and seasonings and bring the meatball mixture together by hand. Otherwise, gently fold the ingredients together using a wooden spatula or spoon. This keeps the meatballs juicy.

• Combine the ingredients. Add your meatball ingredients to a large bowl and mix well. Use a light touch and mix just until the ingredients are evenly combined. You can prepare your meat mixture a day or two in advance and keep it covered in the fridge until you’re ready to roll and bake the meatballs.

Shape and Cook the Meatballs

Now, follow these steps to portion the mixture into balls using a cookie scoop:

• Shape the meatballs. I find the best size for air fryer meatballs is 1 ½ inches. Scoop and roll the meat mixture onto a baking sheet for now. At this point, you can cook your meatballs right away, or chill them in the fridge for 15-30 minutes. Chilling helps the meatballs hold their shape and makes them a bit easier to handle, but it’s not 100% necessary.
• Cook. Arrange the meatballs inside the air fryer basket. Don’t overcrowd the air fryer, or the meatballs will steam instead of crisp (you may need to cook in batches). Then, cook at 380ºF for 10-12 minutes, flipping the meatballs halfway through. Do an internal temperature check at the end of cooking to ensure your meatballs have reached 165ºF.
• Enjoy! If you’re serving your air fryer meatballs with sauce, you can add them to the sauce right away. Otherwise, I suggest letting the meatballs rest for 5 minutes before serving.

Serving Suggestions for Air Fryer Meatballs

• Spaghetti and meatballs. A classic! As mentioned, serve air fryer meatballs with marinara sauce (or your favorite tomato sauce) over a big bowl of pasta.
• As an appetizer. These meatballs make a tasty appetizer with dipping sauces like honey mustard, homemade BBQ sauce, or the sweet chili sauce from these bang bang meatballs.
• Subs and sandwiches. Tuck these meatballs inside a hoagie bun for meatball subs or in between Hawaiian rolls or dinner rolls for sliders.
• Meal prep. Divvy the air fryer meatballs into meal prep containers with rice, zucchini noodles, or roasted vegetables for easy on-the-go meals during the week.

Meatball Variations

I love serving these Italian-style air fryer meatballs over spaghetti with marinara sauce. That being said, they’re a great blank canvas, and these are some other fun variations you can try:

• Asian air fryer meatballs. Coat these meatballs with teriyaki glaze or borrow the sweet-tangy-spicy sauce from my sesame meatballs recipe.
• Swedish meatballs. Make easy Swedish meatballs in the air fryer and add chopped yellow onion, allspice, and nutmeg to the meat mixture. Afterward, serve them with creamy beef gravy.
• Spicy air fryer meatballs. Add chili flakes to the meatball mixture or use the smoky chili sauce from my Chipotle meatballs recipe.

Frequently Asked Questions

Storing and Reheating Leftovers

• Refrigerate leftovers. Store the cooked meatballs with or without sauce in an airtight container. Leftovers last in the fridge for up to 4 days.
• Reheat. If your meatballs don’t have sauce, you can return them to the air fryer at 350ºF for a few minutes to reheat. Otherwise, use the stove or the microwave.
• Freeze. Freeze the meatballs on a baking sheet first, then transfer them to an airtight container or resealable bag. Freeze for up to 2 months. You can reheat the meatballs from frozen or thaw them in the fridge first.